To aid my development of ideas for what I may wan to explore for my photography exam based around the concept of freedom and limitations, we were set a task to generate our ability to take photographs creatively when thinking about ways we can represent freedom/limitations. The task revolves around breaking a particular rule of photography that is deemed vital to follow and obey in order to create meaningful and quality imagery. However, we have been told to  break one of these rules as a way of creating exciting art. Using this criteria as a way to create photographs also encapsulates the idea of freedom/limitations because I will purposely be breaking a rule of photography, resulting in much more freedom in the way I create art, even though photography is a very free means of expressing yourself and some people may like to believe there are no limits in photography. Expanding this to the extent of breaking rules allows me to even more free, however, I believe I may find this task quite difficult because even through I am breaking the typical conventions of photography, I will be focusing on how to represent how I have broken one particular rule and my thought processes when planning a shoot will be based around how I can show that I am breaking this particular rule. This may in fact limit my abilities to be creative in my processes and from my primary planning, I realised this unexpected difficultly in thinking about how I can break a rule of photography because I had never really thought about the rule even when I make photographs normally.

From looking at a video on YouTube which outlines a brief history of the artist John Baldessari, I was able to retrieve some primary inspiration for this new task that had I just been introduced to; to break a rule of photography. John Baldessari was a very controversial artist because he challenged the conventions of photography and did  not conform to the norms of people of the industry were used to. He’s is an American conceptual artist known for his work with found archival photography and appropriated imagery. He used painting in his early work to become established in the create industry and eventually began using old found photographs and incorporating  this into his art and graphic abilities and his eye for difference and ability to differentiate himself from the others at the time allowed him to make such a name for himself  as he has done today. He works with light humor, and with materials and motifs that also reflect the influence of Pop art. In the video that introduces the work and history of Baldessari, it shows him famously burning all works he has ever produced form a period of 30 years in his career. This was a never-seen-before gesture and it shocked people because of this. He also, mid-way through his career and as a contributing factor to why he burnt his work, said that “I will no longer make boring art”. This was a way for him to encourage himself to create more exciting and controversial art. He focused on using typography and different text within his art and also worked with collage to create art.

Baldessari is a great example of breaking the rules of art and creativity because although it is is seen as a very free means of expressing yourself, it is often limited by social and culturally norms and expectations of who humans should behave. Using metaphorical means of expressing opinions and views is what Baldessari did and it has influenced the creative industry ever since. Often, breaking the rules is what we need to do in order to break from the comfort of familiarity and of what has been developed over such a period of time that it becomes a comfort. This ability to erase the once known comfort of creating “boring” art can inspire a more innovative way of creating art. Baldessari also sued the most simple forms of art to produce complex meanings, such as the use of coloured dots which covered faces of subjects in found photographs.

Here is the link to the article, entitled ‘Eight ‘rules’ of photography that are worth breaking’ written by photographer and writer Lewis Bush which outlines the different rules of photography and examples of photographers who break them.

I have chosen to produce a mini response to the theme of breaking the rules of ‘ownership’. On Lewis Hine’s article on breaking the rules of rules photography, when he talks about the rule of ownership he says:

“Our world is a raging storm of images. Photo uploads to Facebook exceed 300 million per day, with Instagram seeing around 90 million.

As a photographer, it can feel futile to keep adding to this visual blizzard, when so much can be said with those that already exist. The solution, for some, lies in a creative attitude to the old-fashioned idea of ownership and copyright.

For seven years the French collector Thomas Sauvin harvested film negatives from Beijing’s vast dump, buying them from specialist scavengers who recycle the negatives for the valuable silver they contain.

In his hunt, Sauvin has created an archive of a million images that offers a unique insight into a pivotal period in modern Chinese history, from the tail end of Mao’s cultural revolution, to the economic success story of modern China.

Belgian artist Mishka Henner, meanwhile, works with images he finds online to dissect the motivations and power of their original producers.

In 51 US Military Outposts, he uses satellite imagery of US military bases around the world to probe the extent of this modern American empire. His interest in these images, he says, lies in the fact that “the people who are running the show, that’s the stuff they’re working with.”

I have chosen to produce a response to this rule as I think I could use some creative and unique ideas to produce a mini-project about ownership and what it means in relation to freedom and limitation. I already have a couple ideas about how I could present something surrounding this idea of how I can break the rule of ownership. My main idea incorporates the use of Instagram and how I can use concept of ownership relating to Instagram, the biggest photo sharing social media software in the world, to create a response to what ownership is and whether it actually matters if the image you, as a photographer uses is not yours. Photographers themselves take inspiration from all sorts of other artists round the world because without inspiration and subtle stealing of ideas, art can be boring and this essentially alludes to the idea that ownership of the work you display is not essential and showing the work of other artists to present meaning can be even more powerful.